Plasma Physicists Seek New uses for the Legacy of Fusion Plasma physicists gathered for a major meeting on fusion funded energy research. Physicists apply H/W and concepts developed over decades of fusion research to new tasks from spacecraft propulsion to understanding magnetic fields in the cosmos. Plasma powered rockets and plasma containment devices can be used for aiming fusion powered spaceships low power thrusters, driven by electric current rather than fusion. Plasma thrusters. A symmetric negative charge drives beams of positively charged ions into a cage's center which collides and fuse. Detonating plasma explosive studying donut shaped fusion devices called tokamaks, a hot confined plasma can suddenly disrupt hurling itself against thevessel's walls. Quiescent plasma passes an instrability threshold /*---------------------------------------------------------------------*/ Device Fabrication by Scanned Probe Oxidation Nanoscience and Nanotechnology has generated extraordinary interesting the past few years. A consequence of the invention of scanned probe microscopy (SPM) . It is possible to use SPM not only for observing atomic scale structure but also for manipulating material with atomic precision . SPM engineering and functional nanometer scale materials and devices are very important in nanoengineering. The scanned probe direct oxidation technique is significant because of it's abaility of cross fertilization and incremental progress. It is an important milestone in SPM fabrication of functional electronic structures at the nanoscale level. The work of Snow and Campbell defines the integration of fabrication and measurement into a single process step essential to nanoscale engineering. The profound simplicity and versatility of the direct oxidation technique has played a major role in understanding the foundations of nanoscale engineering. Direct oxidation by SPM began in 1989, the initial effort was work involving patterning single-crystal silicon and gallium arsenide surfaces. The basic idea is straightforward: Using a conducting SPM tip helf either in contact with or within a nanometer of an electrically biased, stable homogeneous substrate. One can induce a highly localized enhanced oxidation of the substrate. An oxide layers a few monolayers to a few nanometers in thickness rapidly forms in the substrate at the tip sample junction. Typical linewidth are 10-20nm writing up to 1mm/s. Voltage bias of tip and substrate and avaiable oxygen dictate speed of writing. Voltages used are 3-10V. The direct oxidation technique has remarkable features (a) The method is simple, relying on a process which is understood since oxidation is ubiquitous. (b) The oxide is stable . The junction ensures a strong driving force to thermodynamically favorable bonding (c) The technique leads to robust masks or final structures. The thermal and chemical stability for subsequent processing by wet or dry chemical means is used. One can subsequently etch forming nanostructures from the latent pattern for most materials (d) The ability to operate at low voltages avoids proximity effects. (e) A wide base of research is possible because of simplicity of the process. Progress resulted in a routine fabrication of functional devices. Technical improvement w/ the use of metallized atomic force microscopy (AFM) tips in place of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) which improved reliability and increased writing speed and demonstrated selective etching methods combined with epitaxial single-crystal silicon layers to form freestanding silicon structures of 100nm high from a latent pattern 1-2nm thick. They illustrate silicon nanostructures are excellent masks for the etching of underlying heterogeneous layers, such as gallium arsenide and silicon dioxide. The next significant contribution extended the 2-step etching by combining its use with amorphous silicon layers which can be deposited onto a wide variety of metal and insulating films. This allowed the technique to be integrated into CMOS device processing. Sugimura investigated the oxidation of thin, titanium films. An advantage of this is that when the film thickness is controlled to 5nm or less on an insulating substrate, SPM direct oxidation rendered exposed regions of the metallic film insulating. This made critical dimensioned device components possible in a single step through the formation of insulating constrictions in conducting titanium wires. The electron tunneling transistor (SET) junction were studies. SET performance seems sound, the device size and quantum confinement based on titanium wires is underway, Problems arise reliable control of electrical and dimensional properties at less than 10nm demanding fabrication couples with in situ diagnostics. A distinguishing feature of SPM nanoscale technology, setting it apart from incremental refinements of existing methods like electron-beam lithography is the promise of exceptional materials control. This allows sub-10nm level investigation/control. Direct oxidation by SPM is a powerful technique for prototyping novel device structures. Multiple tip arrays, arrays of individual SPM instruments performing parallel fabrication and inspection over a large sample area are now a reality. Parallel lithography coupling direct oxidation process with a 5-tip SPM array has been demonstrated. Production and process development for the semiconductor, magnetic recording and polymers and coatings sectors have been used. /*---------------------------------------------------------------------*/ Quantum Computers, Factoring and Decoherence It is known that quantum computers can dramatically speed up the task of finding factors of large numbers, a problem of practical significance for cryptographic applications. Factors of an L-digit number can be found in ~L2 time by a quantum computer, which simultaneously follows all paths corresponding to distinct classical inputs. Obtaining the solution from the coherent quantum interference of the alternatives, Here is it shown how the decoherence process degrades the interference pattern that emerges from the quantum factoring algorithm. For a quantum computer performing logical operations, an exponential decay of quantum coherence is inevitable. quantum computation can be useful as long as a sufficiently low decoherence rate can be achieved to allow meaningful results to be extracted from the calculation /*---------------------------------------------------------------------*/ Correlated Variations in the Solar Neutrino Flux and the Solar wind and relation to the solar Neutrino PRoblem. Plasma experiemtn IMP 8 spacecraft neutrino flux observations from the homestake experiment. A strong correlation found between neutrino flux and solar wind properties, the solar wind mass flux. The correlation is significantly better than any anticorrelation with sunspot number and is comparable to those previously found with photospheric magnetic flux and shifts in pmode frequencies. If correct, reevaluate neutrino physics. For a proper choice of neutrino parameters, the level of variations is consistent with resonant conversion of electron neutrinos to a nondetected flavor eigenstate mediated by the magnetic field in the sun's convective zone. The solar wind mass flux may act as a proxy for this field, producign the solar wind-neuttrino flux connection /*---------------------------------------------------------------------*/ AFM Fabrication of Sub 10 Manometer Metal Oxide Devices with in Situ control of Electrical Properties Metal wires and metal oxide metal junctions were fabricated by anodix oxidation with the conduction tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) the width of the wires and resistance of the junctions were controlled by realtime in situ measurement of the device resistance during fabrication. Because the properties of nanometer scale devices are very sensitive to size variations, such measurements provide a more accurate method of controlling device properties than by controlling geometery alone,. In this way, structures with critical dimensions of less than 10 nanometers were fabricated with precisely tailored electrical properties. /*---------------------------------------------------------------------*/ Laser Driven Movement of 3D microstructures generated by laser rapid prototyping 3D Microstructures consisting of AlO2 and Al were fabricated by laser induced direct-write deposition from the gas phase. Trimethylamine alane and oxygen were used as precursors. Thermal expansion forces resulting from suitable laser irradiation were used to drive the movement of microstructure parts. Applications include micromechanical actuators, such as microtweezers and micromotors. The one-step nature of the laser direct-write process allows rapid prototyping of such devices.